Farmers agitation ; 18 farmers arrested

Eighteen farmers have been arrested in connection with farmers agitation who were on way to participate in the scheduled protest rally in Punjab here.

Eighteen farmers have been arrested in connection with farmers agitation who were on way to participate in the scheduled protest rally in Punjab here.

They were arrested yesterday under preventive measures and later produced before the duty magistrate and were sent to judicial custody to Faridkot central jail upto March 22, officials said.

The district administration yesterday deployed heavy police force even in the villages to prevent the farmers from joining the rallies at Amritsar and Bathinda.

Apart from this several nakas were also laid to prevent farmers from going to Amritsar and Bathinda.

In a statement, Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) general secretary Sukhdev Singh Kokri has criticised the state police repression by stopping the peaceful farmers from holding protests in support of farmers damands, including forcible acquiring their lands and denying MSP of wheat and paddy as per the recommendations of the Swaminathan Commission.

He also warned that farmers would continue their struggle for achieving the goal.